Commissioners approve 5-year contract for police chief in West Norriton

The contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, raises his salary of $110,356 per year as deputy police chief to $118,000 per year. He will receive 3 percent pay raises in the second and third years of the contract to remain in line with the three-year contract for West Norriton police that includes 3 percent annual pay hikes, said Township Manager Jason Bobst.

“Our police chief has been working without a contract since the retirement of Chief Adams,” said Commissioners’ President George Stojanovich. “He has worked very well as deputy chief and now that he is chief he is doing wonders with our police department. Everyone is on the same page.”

“Chief Mabry has always been a dedicated police officer,” Stojanovich said, “and now it shows how he is developing the department to a higher level.”

Before the commissioner’s meeting began, Mabry said he was pleased with the new five-year contract.

“The negotiations went well,” Mabry said. “I’m very happy with the contract and I look forward to serving the residents for the rest of my career.”

The contract said that “no overtime, call time, compensation time, shift differential, holiday pay or any other form of compensation shall be paid except” when the chief works “on outside details and overtime is paid by the outside agency which has requested the chief’s services.”

Mabry “shall contribute on a pre-tax basis, 2.5 percent of total gross pensionable wages for 2013 to 2017” as a pension contribution.

A performance review by the Board of Commissioners will be conducted in August of each year.

“The chief shall be on call 24 hours a day and shall have the exclusive use at all times during his employment with the township of an automobile provided to him by the township,” the contract said.

Mabry, 59, may elect to become a participant in the “DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan) program provided that he strictly comply with the procedures and requirement for DROP participation in the collective (police) bargaining agreement.”

The contract specifies that Mabry can be fired “only for the following reasons which must be proven by clear and convincing evidence.”

The reasons include “physical or mental disability, in which case the chief shall receive an honorable discharge from service; neglect or violation by the chief of any official duty; violation of any law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which provides that such violation constitutes a misdemeanor or felony; the chief’s inefficiency, neglect, intemperance, disobedience of orders or directions, or conduct unbecoming a Chief of Police; the chief’s intoxication while on duty; and/or the chief’s engagement or participation in the conduct of any political or election campaigning.”

After the five-year contract expires, it can be continued for one-year periods. Either Mabry or the commissioners can terminate the contract by giving “at least 120 days notice prior to the expiration date of the current term.”

Mabry was sworn in as police chief on Jan. 8 by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Rogers with Mabry’s mother, Sarah Mabry, holding the Bible. A majority of the West Norriton police force attended the brief ceremony filling the back of the crowded meeting hall.

Mabry has worked in the West Norriton police department for 34 years, starting in June 1979 as a patrolman. He was promoted to sergeant in January 1987, lieutenant in April 2002 and deputy police chief in 2006, he said.

Mabry replaced former Police Chief Robert Adams, who retired last year.